For many people, part of their job includes a lot of travel by car. However, along with a lot of time spent on the road comes heightened risk. In some cases, an employee may end being involved in a car accident while traveling for work. Such an accident can create massive damages for that employee in terms of physical, mental, and financial hardship. While obtaining compensation in a personal injury lawsuit for such an accident is not necessarily easy, it can be done if the right elements exist in your case.
Personal Commute Versus Scope of Employment
Not every case when an employee is involved in a car accident will result in a successful personal injury lawsuit. One of the most important factors to consider is whether or not the travel in question falls under the “scope of employment.” Just because you commute to and from work does not mean that travel would be considered as falling under the scope of employment by a court. Instead, in most cases, regular commuting is considered a personal activity that is completely outside of the scope of the employer's responsibilities. If you are involved in a car accident during a regular commute that has nothing to do with your job responsibilities, you won't be able to find your employer liable in court in most cases.
However, this can change the moment that travel becomes more directly tied to the work you perform for your employer. For example, if you have to drive from client to client while on the clock or as part of your regular duties, those drives will likely fall under the scope of your employment. If your employer forces you to attend a conference and you have to drive to it, that travel may also fit the bill. This will especially be the case if you were provided with a company vehicle to perform your work. At that point, the travel you performed in that vehicle for work is certainly directly tied to your employer as far as the law is concerned.
Vicarious Liability and Third-Party Personal Injury Lawsuits
Something else to consider is vicarious liability. This is when one party is deemed to be responsible for a separate party's actions. This is how the actions of an employee can lead to lawsuits targeting the employer. While in that role, the employee can be viewed as an agent for the employer under a legal concept known as “respondent superior,” which means “let the master answer.” If your car accident was your fault and another party was harmed, your employer could be sued over it. Similarly, if your accident was with a driver working under the scope of their employment, their employer can be party to your personal injury lawsuit.
After a car accident under the scope of employment, you may have multiple avenues for obtaining compensation to cover your damages. First, you can consider pursing workers' compensation. Workers' comp could cover your medical expenses as well as part of your lost wages. However, another more robust option would be to pursue a third-party personal injury lawsuit with an experienced car accident lawyer like those at Schweickert Ganassin Krzak Rundio, LLP. In this case, a third party, the “tortfeasor,” would be sued for acting negligently in a way that caused that accident to happen. Such a lawsuit has certain advantages over workers' comp, including the possibility of obtaining compensation for things like damage to property, loss of quality of life, and pain and suffering. Workers' comp will not cover any of these.
Actions to Take After the Accident
If you want to increase your chances of winning in a personal injury lawsuit against your employer or any other party, you should remember to think clearly after the accident and take the proper steps to help prove your case in court. This should include persevering evidence. If you have evidence you can hand over to a car accident lawyer, you will have a much better case than if it was your word alone. In today's high-tech world, there are many more opportunities to do just that. Obtain and backup dash-cam footage from your company car if you have one. You may also request footage from one of the responding police officers. Take as many photos and videos as you can of the site of the crash. This can help preserve the scene of the crash and prove that it was the way you said it was. Without this evidence, it may devolve into a 'he said she said' in court. Obtain witness testimony and contact information. Obtain the police report that will backup your version of events.
You should also keep in mind that the defense attorneys on the other side, as well as your insurance company, may try to invoke the legal concept of comparative negligence to limit whatever they will pay out for your accident. This may include things like arguing in court that your own negligent actions contributed to the accident taking place. They may, for example, argue that you were speeding or driving recklessly when the accident occurred. If you can secure and preserve evidence that proves that your own negligence contributed nothing to the damages you suffered, your attorney can certainly exploit this to your benefit in court.
Keep in mind that pursuing both workers compensation and a personal injury lawsuit can cause serious complications for you later down the road. This may result in the insurance company that provides the workers' compensation using a lien to claw back what it paid in benefits from you by obtaining a portion of your legal settlement. Dealing with such a lien can be quite difficult.
Overall, you need expert legal advice from a licensed attorney experienced in the relevant law to know how to best navigate through these complex issues and obtain the compensation you deserve. It all depends on the facts of your case and the specific circumstances of your car accident. Without this knowledge, you may not know how to best proceed to recover your losses.